


Mending Broken Promises

by princesa99



Category: One Piece
Genre: Childhood Sweethearts, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:02:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,293
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27194846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/princesa99/pseuds/princesa99
Summary: *Set before the Revolutionaries went to Mary Geoise*Sabo knew there was nothing that he could do about his missing memories. It's all Mother Nature's work. But, if he tried harder, he could have ended up remember about everything earlier. But he didn't. He remembered the last time he tried to remember, it was back when he was still in early teenager. And then he stopped because he was too busy training and studying everything he could to become a Revolutionary. He stopped because he thought there was nothing worth remembering when in fact it was the opposite.*READ THE NOTES AT THE BEGINNING!*
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Sabo, Portgas D. Ace & Whitebeard Pirates, Portgas D. Ace/Sabo
Comments: 2
Kudos: 65





	Mending Broken Promises

**Author's Note:**

> I'm not sure if the Revolutionaries directly go to Mary Geoise after the four generals arrived at their new HQ or they wait for a few days before they snuck in so I chose the latter as the timeline in this fic so it would make some sense. Hope you all enjoy it :)
> 
> P/s : There's a little spoiler from One Piece canon universe so proceed with caution! I warned you so don't blame me later !

Dragon-san was talking about the Revolutionaries goals, ambitions and promises when something crossed his mind.

As he was the second in command, he was sitting at the right side of their boss followed by their four generals. Sabo was supposed to be focusing and paying attention to whatever it was that Dragon-san was talking but he couldn't as he was distracted by something.

Promises, huh? Simple word but it has heavy meaning. Every time someone mention the word 'promise' his mind would automatically reminded him of Ace and Luffy but mainly Ace.

It wasn't because Luffy was less important than Ace. Of course not. Both are important to him, both are his priority even if one of them has passed from this world. That word mainly remind him of Ace because it remind him that he couldn't keep his promise to the raven haired male, the man who was supposed to be his everything after they've promised each other. He couldn't keep that promise as Portgas D. Ace already passed away two years ago. It wasn't that he loves Ace more than Luffy. He loves them equally and fiercely but the kind of love he feels for Ace is different from what he feels for Luffy. Besides, Luffy is still alive and wreaking havoc somewhere (he was named as the Fifth Emperor after making probably destruction at Big Mom's place) and any promises that he made with his little brother, he still could keep it as long as one of them doesn't die (not that they are planning to do so but well).

That's why every time someone mention that word, it would remind him of his inability to keep his promises as he was remembering way too late.

If Sabo mentioned this to someone mainly Koala, she would say it wasn't his fault. He remembered her words during their mission at Dressrosa. If he were there that day, would it change anything? He doesn't have the answer of course but he'd like to think that something would change. Koala would tell him not to blame himself but how could he not.

Sabo knew there was nothing that he could do about his missing memories. It's all Mother Nature's work. But, if he tried harder, he could have ended up remember about everything earlier. But he didn't. He remembered the last time he tried to remember, it was back when he was still in early teenager. And then he stopped because he was too busy training and studying everything he could to become a Revolutionary. He stopped because he thought there was nothing worth remembering when in fact it was the opposite.

Really, if he had the chance, he really wanted to knock his younger self for being such a stupid fool when he was supposed to be a genius. He doesn't regret being a Revolutionary even he originally wanted to be a pirate and live freely. He just regret the way he had joined them.

Koala and Hack would chastise him for regretting something that is way outside his ability but how could he not.

Another promise that he couldn't keep. They promised to live without regret but here he is, couldn't letting go all the regrets he had.

He's not sure if Ace would forgive him or if Ace would be angry at him. He'd understand it if it were the latter and he expected it since he knew that the Ace he remembers in his memories is much different than the Ace that grew up together with Luffy. Judging from Ace's action before his death, Sabo knew the former Whitebeard second division commander really take care of Luffy like how he asked of him in a letter once upon a time. So, if he were to see Ace right now (not that he could) he couldn't be sure about his reaction. Angry for sure since he was alive all this time but Ace didn't get to know.

What he would do if he could see and talk with Ace right now even if it was just a few moments. He would say sorry for everything. Sorry for not coming to his aid, sorry for forgetting, sorry for remembering way too late, sorry for couldn't make all his promises into reality.

Sabo sighed inwardly and heavily. Discreetly, he patted his cravat, feeling the familiar shape of two identical rings hanging as a locket around his neck. He ordered and bought it on impulse after he saw it through a window few weeks after their relocation to Kamabakka Island. It was a pair of simple gold band with some carving that he requested the smith to made. It was supposed to be a promise slash engagement ring since he promised it to Ace in the letter that they would get married when they saw each other in the future.

Alas, that promise couldn't become a reality. Unless if he put the ring on Ace's grave then it would be official. In a way. They were already promised to each other and the ring was just a way to make it official.

Sabo's eyes widened as the realisation dawn on him, completely forgetting that he was in a meeting and was supposed to pay attention. He could do that. He could pay a visit to Ace's grave, talk to him a little bit and give him the ring, hoping that wherever Ace are, he could hear him. It would be unorthodox, well since when he and Ace are normal anyway? He's a revolutionary with noble blood and Ace was a pirate who was also the son of the late pirate king. Nothing about them screams normal.

Yes, Sabo could do that. In fact, he's going to take off as soon as the meeting ended. It won't be exactly like he promised but it's a start. They could get married later when he joined Ace after all his work are done.

"Sabo-kun, are you listening?" Koala asked, shaking his shoulder effectively snapped him out from his mind.

Sabo looked around with a sheepish smile before turning to their superior who was looking at him with a 'I give up with you' look making his smile widened.

Dragon-san rolled his eyes as he sighed heavily with a slight amusement look before making a shooing motion towards him.

Sabo smiled before standing up abruptly to the confusion of his comrades. He took off his ridiculous white cape, slipping his pipe behind him before bowing to Dragon-san.

He needed to buy something to his kinda adoptive father after everything he did to him, giving him much more freedom than the others.

"Sabo-kun, where are you going?"

"Sabo?"

"Chief?"

Sabo laughed. "I'll be back soon! Don't worry about me. I've already memorize everything about our plan! See you later."

Then, he took off running towards the place where they kept all their transportation, ignoring all the questions behind him.

.  
.  
.

"Dragon-san, what's happening? Where's the Chief going?"

Monkey D. Dragon sighed as he sipped his tea, thinking about the boy he saved from Goa who is also his son's brother. No wonder his old man kept complaining in his letters about how his grandsons were so stubborn and hard-headed and also were so hard to resist.

"Don't worry about him. He just have some private matter to finish. He won't take long."

One of his veterans comrade, Ivankov laugh. "You really adore him, huh?"

He grunted, not saying yes but also didn't deny it. He won't admit it but he do cares about that reckless kid. He may abandoned his son for his own safety but that doesn't mean he didn't love him. Besides, Sabo is the only connection he had with his son. And he also got the feeling that his own son would punch him if something were to happen to his brother. The only brother he has.

Really, the three of them. If he didn't know Sabo was a noble, he would probably think that his second in command is a D as well, judging from the way he acted.

Well, Sabo would come back as a D so in a way he's a D too. Roger, even if your son denied it, he really takes after you. Especially his taste in his significant other. Blond, wavy hair. If Sabo has longer hair or a female, he would be so similar to your wife.

.  
.  
.

"Hey, Ace. I'm here to visit you. I hope you are well and happy wherever you are. I miss you." Sabo spoke to the gravestone with Ace's orange hat and dagger sitting on top of it as he put the latest paper about Luffy's adventure in front of the stone with some wine and three red cups.

He doesn't know if Ace could hear it or not but he didn't care. Besides, talking out loud made him feel like Ace was listening. Well, he hoped so.

"You know, Luffy just got out safely from Big Mom's place. The news declared him as the Fifth Emperor. He's got 1.5 billion on his head right now. Big Mom must be so pissed off." He said, chuckling as he think about Luffy who is steadily moving forward to his dream.

The weather was good. The wind softly blowing all around him, making his hair and the grass moving as if they were dancing together with the wind.

"I also wanted to tell you that my, our goal as the Revolutionaries, we are on our way to achieve it. In just a few days, we are going to stormed the Marie Geoise and burn it down. So, wish us luck, okay? We are going to be fighting the Marines and the World Government at the same time and to be honest, I'm slightly afraid. I'm afraid that we would fail or something. But I promised you, I'm not going to die. I wouldn't leave Luffy all alone. I just got him back. Besides, I'm planning to assist him later in Wano. He didn't tell me about his plan but we could guess his next destination. So, yeah. That's that. But, don't worry. It would be hard fighting two enemies at the same time but well, I haven't show them my full power yet. I'm not the number two of the revolutionaries just in name."

Sabo's aware that he's rambling. It's not incoherent but it wasn't in the order he was supposed to say like how he practiced on his way here. He was nervous but well Ace would understand.

"Ookay. I'm sure you are wondering about the real reason why I came here. Well, it was true that I just want to tell you about Luffy and my plan. But, that wasn't all."

Here, Sabo took a deep breath to calm his nerve as he slowly took of his cravat and unbutton his collar buttons. If Ace were here, he would probably blushed then laugh from his sudden action of undressing his clothes. He then took off the chain that he wore around his neck that he hid under his cravat, revealing a pair of gold bands.

"Looking at these, I'm sure you know what I'm going to say but let me just say it." He said as he took off the smaller ring between the two and slipped it on his ring finger. It fits perfectly.

"I promised you in the letter that we would get married when we meet again somewhere in the future. But, I couldn't keep that promise because I remembered way too late and you...died."

Sabo took a deep breath again to squashed the heavy feeling that suddenly clogging up his throat. It's the telltale sign that he's going to cry.

"My friends said that it wasn't my fault but I couldn't not think that it really wasn't. My friend asked me if something would change if I were there that day and I'd like to think, yes something would change. You would be alive with me and Luffy. But, that didn't happen. And, you would probably know this, I regretted it. I know how we promised to live without regret and I really tried it but I couldn't. I'm sorry."

He didn't realized that tears were already streaming down his face until he sniffles. He chuckled half-heartedly before wiping his face with his sleeve.

"I have so many promises to you that I haven't managed to keep and the one promise that I desperately wanted to make it a reality was the promise to marry each other. I remembered feeling that I desperately wanted to hurry and grow up so I could see you in the future and marry you and do other things." Sabo said and blushed lightly at the end of his words.

Sabo cleared his throat as he stood and tied the chain with Ace's ring as its locket at the strap hanging around Ace's orange hat.

"I bought this for you after my reunion with Luffy. I know technically we were already promised to each other when we were kids but I know you wanted to make it official so I bought us a matching ring. It's not official official if you understand what I mean but well, since when we do things normally, right?" Sabo laughed, eyes watches fondly at the ring which was swinging softly with the wind.

"I'm going to say this for the first in a long time and it won't be the last. I love you, Ace. I'm sorry that we could not get married as we wanted. I'm sure you have been waiting to hear me introducing myself as Portgas D. Sabo or Gol D. Sabo; whichever you preferred. I wouldn't mind either way. So, this is the best way that I could think of. We won't be meeting anytime soon so the next time we meet, I promise you I would swept you off your feet. Until that day comes, we would be engaged for a long time. It's not that bad, right Mr. Fiancé?”

He didn't know if it were his imagination or something but he swore that he could felt warmth caressing his face. It's probably his imagination. Sabo shrugged before wearing his cravat again and putting on his coat.

"I'm not saying goodbye since I'll be coming here again. The next time I come, I'm bringing Luffy with me. I'm sure you missed him. I'll tell him later about our unorthodox engagement." Sabo chuckled as he imagined his little brother's reaction. He would probably throw a tantrum for not telling him much earlier before he pouted and asked for some meats as compensation.

"I'm leaving. Later, Ace. I love you. Still very much in love with you like the day when we first confessed. Wherever you are, watch us and wish us luck."

.  
.  
.

EPILOGUE

"Oh My God, Ace your fiancé is so romantic!!"

Somewhere, near the two graves, unseen by others, three figures were sitting cross-legged as a man with pompadour hair was teasing a certain blushing raven haired male while the other was laughing his usual weird, laughter.

"SHUT UP, THATCH!!!" Ace roared as he hid his red face with his arm, covering his blush and his tears. He rarely cried and not many people can make him cry. Except for one person.

"So, you're saying yes, right? Right?!" Thatch asked, eyes literally shining with excitement. Sitting across from them, was their old man watching their antics with amused eyes.

"...Of course I am! We've been actually engaged since we were 10. We just make it official with rings and all that."

Thatch whistled. "Damn. I love childhood romance. Ah, if we were alive, I could have plan a wedding for the two of you."

"Do you even have experience in planning a wedding?" Ace asked, skeptical even if somewhere far in his heart, he also wanted it but well no use regretting it. Besides, as Sabo said the next time they meet, they would tie the knot officially. He couldn't wait for that day. For now, Sabo still has his own responsibility to do.

"Well no but it's not that hard, right? Izo could have make a suit or something for you and Goldie and I can cook a feast. Moby Dick is big enough for Luffy and the Strawhats. And Garp too if you wanted to invite him."

Ace laughed as his mind imagined the scene Thatch just said. It was beautiful but there's still some people missing. Makino, Dadan and the others from Foosha Village.

"But really, you guys are so sweet. That Goldie is so romantic. Who would have thought that the number two Revolutionary is your significant other. Your ass is so lucky. He must be hella strong."

Ace nodded, remembering the training session they had years ago. "Yeah. His strength is equal to mine. But now, he must be much stronger."

"Yeah! I could almost see his pecs from when he was almost undressing just now. He should have taken off his top. His body must look so good."

Ace rolled his eyes as he smacked a good one to Thatch. "You shouldn't ogle someone's fiancé, you stupid pompadour."

"Ouch!" Thatch hissed in pain before whining that his hair wasn't stupid which Ace ignored as he watched the ring, his ring swaying lightly from the wind.

To be honest, he already made it official a long time ago when he decided to tattoo Sabo's initial and jolly roger on his arm. People always thought that he misspelled his name and made fun of him but it wasn't the case. The 'S' on his bicep is for Sabo, not because he didn't know how to spell. He made it because he wanted to honour the memories of his lover and his promise. Who would have thought that Sabo was alive all this time and would make it official with a ring? Really, that idiot.

Even so, he hoped that Sabo one day would forgive himself and let go all his regrets. Ace wanted to say it wasn't his fault and he didn't blame him but he couldn't right now. Sabo couldn't see him. Well, one day he would say it. After his lover crossed to this side. He prayed that Sabo would come out safely from the Revolutionary's war with the World Government. Hoping that he would come out unscathed would be impossible in a war so he could only hope for him to survive the war safely. Luffy too. Really, that little brother of theirs. So reckless. Facing two yonkos at the same time? With all the havoc he wreaked with his crew, no wonder he get such a high bounty in a short time.

"Hey, Ace." Thatch called.

"What?"

"Which name would Goldie take?"

Ace choked on nothing as he remembered what Sabo said about taking his family name.

"I want to say Portgas but that old man of mine would sulk and whine to mom so probably Gol. Probably."

"Hahahahahahahaha, I didn't expect for Gold Roger to act so childish with his own son and wife." Thatch commented, amused.

"He's been like that since way before." Their pops, Whitebeard said suddenly.

"Really?!" Thatch exclaimed. "Tell me more about him, pops! I’m your number one fan don’t worry but you can’t blame me for being interested with the pirate king!"

Ace ignored the two of them as he refocused his attention to the glinting ring hanging around his hat. He couldn’t wait for the day that Sabo could finally slip the beautiful ring on his finger.

'I love you too, idiot. I can't wait to see you again, Sabo. Take care of our brother.' Ace whispered silently, hoping that wherever Sabo was, he could hear him.

**Author's Note:**

> I started this at 2.30 a.m. and finished at 5.30. Wrote this in one go since my mind couldn't stop thinking about rings and weddings. Well, it's my fault for scrolling tik tok watching all those weddings video in the middle of the night :P So, please forgive me for all the errors on my grammars and my sentences construction. I was so, so sleepy and my english vocabulary didn't want to work together with me so i am very sorry.
> 
> I wrote this because I thought that Sabo would still have some regrets for his absence during the Marine Ford events so I just add a few ideas here and there to make it interesting. And about the part where Sabo said he would assist Luffy and the gang at Wano, I took it from fan theories I stumbled upon on IG. I'm not sure if it would become canon or not since Sabo's whereabout has not been mention yet in the manga. So, if it's one day it become canon, then I'm sorry for spoiling you guys.
> 
> I hope you'll enjoy this treat to all the SaboAce shipper out there. Any typos, mistakes in grammar, repetitive words and sentence construction, I hope you'll forgive me. Let me know what you think at the comments! I'll see you again next time. Thank you very much!


End file.
